Fear Itself
by hayes112
Summary: Rei Muranaka's tennis game has some serious flaws. Can Eiji Kikumaru and Syusuke Fuji help her out?       I do not own Prince of Tennis
1. Preface

Her second year in middle school, Rei Muranaka walked out of the girl's locker room with her sister Rin, tennis bag in hand.

"Ah, sis, look at them. You think we can be that good one day?" Rin asked, looking at the boys Regulars practicing and noticing the resident Golden Pair, Eiji Kikumaru and Suichiro Oishi.

"Honestly, Rin. We're already that good. We're like, the Golden Pair of the girl's circuit." Rei responded confidently. But the two of them walked over to the courts and watched in awe anyway. As the pair rallied, swiftly running from one end of the court to the other, Rei was nearly star-struck with their talent.

"Still think we're that good, sis?" Rin asked quietly.

"Well, maybe not yet. But we will be. No question about it. Why don't we go to the street courts?"

Rin groaned. "But we just got out of practice!" she complained. Rei looked pointedly at the golden pair, still rallying, fighting for the next point.

"Okay, I get it…" Rin grumbled as she trudged along behind her sister.


	2. Chapter 1

Now Rei was a first year in High School. She was still only 157 centimeters tall, weighing 48 kilograms. Her black hair was pulled back into the same ponytail while her hazel eyes took in her surroundings. Things were definitely different. As she walked to school on the first day, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was nervous, going to a new school on her own without her tennis partner.

Rin had decided she wanted to study abroad for high school and had traveled to Europe for the next few years. She had always been more interested in school and art than tennis.

Rei had spent the entire summer angry with her sister. They had made it to Nationals together the year before and nearly became Champions, losing in the final moments of their match; But Rei had high hopes for the next year, until Rin left.

As she walked through the gates towards Seigaku's High School sector, she took a deep breath and looked around.

The entire grounds were huge. Rei wondered how she would ever find her way to her classroom. She looked down at the slip of paper in her hand, reading _3-11_.

"Now I just have to find the damn place." She muttered to herself as she walked through the building.

She found her classroom just as the bell rang. The teacher was assigning seats and he smiled when he looked up and saw her.

"It's so kind of you to join us. You must be Muranaka. You may take your seat next to Kikumaru." He said

"Yes, sir. " Rei said before walking to her seat next to a grinning read haired boy.

"Hi! I'm Eiji Kikumaru. What's your name?" The boy asked, turning to her.

"Uh, Rei Muranaka. I know who you are. You're Kikumaru of the Golden Pair. You went to Nationals just last year. You gave Seigaku a championship." Rei said to him.

Eiji looked surprised at how much Rei knew, as he couldn't remember ever seeing her before. He looked at her curiously and realized she had a tennis bag by her seat.

Rei heard soft laughter behind her.

"Eiji, you're famous." A boy sitting behind Rei said. He had light brown hair and was smiling, his eyes seemingly closed. Rei recognized him as well.

"You're Syusuke Fuji, The Prodigy. You won at Nationals too." She said.

"It's nice to meet you, Muranaka." Syusuke said to her.

"Do you play tennis?" Eiji asked curiously, pointing to her bag.

"Um, I used to. I'm not sure if I will anymore. I just figured I'd look around for today." Rei replied.

"Why would you stop playing?" Fuji asked. But before Rei could answer the teacher called for their attention, and the conversation stopped.

The rest of the day went smoothly, with no mention of tennis from either of the boys, until they invited her to watch their practice at the end of the day.

"It's pretty exciting. High school is much more fun than middle school, and the players have even more talent." Fuji explained.

"More talent? I didn't think that was possible, what with Echizen and Tezuka on the team last year." Rei mused out loud.

"Well, not very many people can rival with either of those two, which is probably why Tezuka decided to try the pro circuit in Germany. As for Echizen, I don't think it's fair to compare anyone not in the pro circuit to him." Fuji explained.

"Fuji's right. But if you play, you probably know about Tezuka and Echizen. So will you come to practice?" Eiji asked hopefully.

Rei nodded. "Sure. I guess I could stay for a while. But I don't think I'll play." She told the boys.

Eiji cheered and the three of them walked to the courts together. Rei was introduced to the other teammates, Captain Yuudai Yamato, Sadaharu Inui, Suichiro Oishi, Daisuke Watanabe, Rokuro Kobayashi, and Vice-Captain Ko Ito.

Rei greeted them politely. "It's good to meet you." She told them, "If it's okay, I'll sit on the bench over there to watch your practice."

Yuudai eyed her carefully before responding, "Nonsense. It's no use going to a tennis court and not playing. Why not play one of the first years? Inui maybe, or Eiji." He suggested

"I don't think that's a good idea. You see, I only play doubles, and my partner isn't here. If you don't mind, I'll just go sit down." Rei replied, before smiling graciously and heading to her seat.

"Why doesn't she want to play?" Eiji wondered out loud, Suichiro shrugged.

"Who knows." Syusuke told him, patting his shoulder.

"Rei Muranaka. Played doubles with her twin sister Rin Muranaka on Seigaku's Middle School girls' team. They reached the finals of Nationals last year before losing to Rikkai Dai. Rin has since decided to travel to Europe rather than pursue tennis and there has been no sign of Rei on a court." Inui said as he looked through a notebook he had pulled out of his bag.

The boys all watched her walk away, thinking their own thoughts until Yamato cleared his throat.

"Alright, I think it's time to begin practice." He told them, and the group quietly began their drills

Rei sat on the bench and watched longingly. Her hand itched for the bright green racket in the bag that was at her feet. Her feet tapped the ground lightly, begging to feel the green cement underneath them. Rei was too terrified to give in though.

Singles tennis simply wasn't her game. She attempted to play, the day her sister left, but she froze on the court. Without her sister's support, she wasn't sure what to do.

It could be that she just wasn't as independent as Rin, and couldn't cope as well without her other half. The two of them were inseparable growing up. Anything the two of them did, they did it together. Some people thought it was weird to be around a sibling that much, but for Rei and Rin, it was just the way life was.

But Rin had dreams bigger than tennis. She wanted to see the world, make a name for herself. Rei just wanted to play.

"Muranaka!" someone yelled, pulling Rei from her thoughts. Her head snapped up and Yuudai was smiling down at her.

"Would you please play a game with Eiji? He'd really appreciate it." He told her.

"Uh, sure, I guess I can." Rei said, pulling out her green racket and standing up.

She walked onto the court, but as soon as she stepped onto the baseline, looking across at Eiji on the other side, she was terrified.

Her racket was limp at her side, and she simply stood.

"Uh, Muranaka, you do know how to play, right?" one of the boys called to her, But Rei remained silent.

Finally, Yuudai walked over to her and took her racket before leading her back to the bench.

"I don't know what's wrong. I haven't played in so long." Rei told the confused boys. Rokuro smiled at the underclassman.

"Hey, no worries. We'll get you back on the court in no time. I'm sure of it." He told her encouragingly. The other boys nodded in agreement.

"You just need a slight adjustment. You think doubles with your sister is your game. We need to make Tennis your game." Yuudai told her.

"We'll have you ready by the next ranking match!" Eiji said loudly, making Rei smile.


	3. Chapter 2

The days following that afternoon were busy for Rei and the other regulars. While the boys practiced, Rei worked out, running and other various strength exercises. Then afterwards, the boys would try to coach her to play on the court.

First they started out with doubles.

Rei would play with Eiji against two of the other regulars in a match. At first, Rei just stood on the court while Eiji played two people on his own. The ball landed to her left and Eiji dove for it.

'_I could have gotten that."_ She thought, looking over at Eiji. Sweat ran down his face as he stood up again. She felt helpless, Eiji was worn out. Rei's grip on her racket tightened. The next ball was on her right. She saw Eiji about to chase after the ball again, but before he could start running, Rei reached out with her racket and hit the ball back. Daisuke and Rokuro cheered, letting the ball pass by them. Eventually, Rei was the only one on her side of the court playing and Eiji soon sat on the sidelines.

Rei thought of it sort of as a type of physical therapy. You had to start out slow before you completely recovered. But Syusuke told her what she had was more like Yips than any physical disability. She was afraid to play without her sister. Finally weeks later, two days before the ranking tournament, Rei was over her fears.

She stepped onto the baseline. Her sister wasn't on the court with her and she knew it, but doubles wasn't her game anymore, like Yuudai told her. Tennis was now her game, and that included singles.

Rei looked at Eiji across the court and served the ball lightly. The two rallied for a short while, gauging each other's strength. Eiji began showing off his acrobatic skills, gaining them a slight crowd. Rei was beginning to be more comfortable on the court and decided to show off a few skills of her own. As Eiji returned the ball to her side of the court, she smirked. In a flash, the ball was back on Eiji's side, as it simply rolled along the court without bouncing.

"Fuji, she used your Swallow's Return!" Eiji cheered, as the rally ended.

"Well done," Fuji said, his smile never leaving his face, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Rei blushed slightly, as she and Eiji walked off the court.

"I've watched a few of your matches. It wasn't easy to learn, but I got the hang of it by Nationals last year. Too bad it wasn't enough." She said, recalling the Finals match against the Rikkai Dai girls.

It had been Rikkai Dai's match point, and Rei and her sister had done everything they could to catch up, since this match would determine who the National Champions were. But as Rei returned the ball, time seemed to stop. The ball was out. Rei dropped her tennis racket and sank to her knees. They lost

Yuudai snapped Rei out of her reminiscing.

"Why don't you sign up for the girls' team tomorrow morning? I'm certain you'll be a regular, especially now that you are able to play singles."

Eiji slung his arm around her shoulders. "You should! I know you'll beat all the other girls!" he cheered.

"Alright, I'll sign up." Rei gave in, laughing.

At that, the group headed their separate ways, Syusuke and Eiji offering to walk Rei home per usual, and for just a moment, Rei forgot how her sister had left her and tennis behind.


	4. Chapter 3

The next day, the boys dragged Rei towards the girl's tennis courts. Yuudai tapped a girl on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, may we speak to the captain?" He asked. The girl glanced at him.

"I'm captain. Keiko Watanabe. What do you need? Please make it quick. I'm trying to run a practice." The girl said, her brown eyes flashing.

"Well, you see, I think we have someone here you might want on your team. We feel she should be entered into the ranking match" Suichiro said.

Keiko looked over at Rei, inspecting her. Rei was nervous. What if she never even got the chance to try out for the Regulars?

"Why should I let her? What can she do?" Keiko asked finally.

"She knows Fuji's Swallow's Return! She's really good! She even played at Nationals last year." Eiji said to the girl.

"Oh. I know who you are. Rei Muranaka, the one that lost in the Finals of Nationals last year. I hear your sister just up and left, probably from the humiliation." Keiko said, turning away.

"Well, that's harsh. Have you ever seen her play?" Daisuke said angrily, "Just let her play one match. That'll prove it to you, I'm sure."

Keiko shrugged. "Alright then, fine. See that girl over there? She's Kiku Sasaki. You'll play her. If you win, you can enter the ranking matches." She said.

Rei nodded and soon she and a tall girl with long black hair were positioned on opposite sides of the court. Rei's nerves were wired. She wasn't sure if she could do this. This match wasn't against one of her friends and it wasn't a friendly rally this time either.

'C'mon, Muranaka! You can do this!" She heard Eiji cheering. The other regulars were watching, smiling at her encouragingly.

Rei took a deep breath.

She served the ball as hard as she could.

"Fault." The girl judging said as the ball went out. Rei swore under her breath as her palms began to sweat. This wasn't starting out well.

"Keep cool, Muranaka. You've got this." Syusuke said.

Rei nodded and served again. This time it was in and the rally began.

Kiku's shots were strong, but the training the boys had prepared Rei with made her even stronger. Kiku was keeping up, but just barely.

"The next shot with have the topspin she's looking for." Inui said to the other boys.

Sure enough, it did, and Rei pulled out the move everyone had been waiting for. The Swallow's Return.

"I've seen enough." Keiko said, walking onto the court as Kiku sat down, panting.

"So, does she get to play in the ranking matches?" Suichiro asked.

"Yes. Now leave, so I may continue with my practice." Keiko said, shooing the boys away. She then turned to Rei.

"You may as well leave too, only regulars are practicing right now. Team practice is tomorrow at 6am. I expect to see you there." She told her.

Syusuke put a hand on Rei's shoulder.

"Congratulations. But your Swallow's Return could still use a little bit of work. Why don't we go practice before heading home? Plus maybe Eiji and I could teach you some other moves." He said as they walked out of the court.

"That'd be great! But I can't stay too long. My mom asked me to go visit my dad today. He doesn't live with us anymore, and he hasn't been feeling too well." Rei replied. Eiji picked up her bag and Syusuke took her schoolbooks as the trio left to find some empty street courts.

After two hours at the courts, Rei had learned the basics of two more of Syusuke's triple counters and a few other tricks they had picked up at the U-17 camp.

"Thanks a ton guys, but I've got to go now. I'll see you in class tomorrow, though." Rei said, putting her racket in her bag.

"Well, why don't we walk you to your dad's? It's starting to get dark out, so it's better to stay in a group." Eiji said, grinning and winking at Rei, who blushed and nodded.

"I guess that could be okay." Rei told the boys.

They began walking and Rei led them towards the local hospital.

"You dad is in the hospital? That's terrible. I'm sorry." Eiji said. Rei shrugged.

'He's been here awhile. Just a heads up, he's got this disease. It's called Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease. So he doesn't exactly remember stuff 'cause it's making holes in his brain or something." Rei explained to them.

"Does he remember you?" Syusuke asked cautiously.

"Yeah, just barely, for now." Rei replied quietly as she signed them in on the visitors list and led them to one of the rooms.

Opening the door, she revealed a middle aged man lying in bed. He couldn't have been over forty, and he looked just like Rei. His short black hair fell easily over bright hazel eyes.

"Rin! How are you?" he said cheerfully. Rei took a deep breath.

"It's me, dad, Rei. I'm doing well. These are my friends, Fuji and Eiji." She said to him, smiling.

"Ah, of course, I know who you are." He lied easily, "How did you meet these boys?"

"We're in the same class, sir. And we've been playing tennis together." Eiji said politely.

"Yeah, dad, I'm going to try to be a regular. I want to go to Nationals again, even though Rin isn't here." Rei said. She was sitting next to his bed now, holding his hand. He was starting to fall asleep.

"Where did Rin go?" He asked sleepily. Rei sighed.

"Dad, she went to Europe, remember? Right after you got sick? I think she's in Germany right now." She told him. But he was already asleep. She stood up.

"Alright guys. I guess we should go now." She said, picking up her bag. Syusuke put his hand on her shoulder.

"We're here if you want to talk." He told her, smiling. Rei smiled and suddenly hugged him.

"Thanks a lot guys." She said, stepping back. The three then left the hospital and headed home.


	5. Chapter 4

It was four months later. Rei was now a regular, and the team was heading to the final round of Nationals

"We've got to work hard. We can't slack off, just because we've made it into the Nationals tournament. We still have to work to win it." Keiko told the regulars.

"Lighten up a little, Watanabe." Hikari Saito said. She played singles two, ahead of Rei.

"I think she's right. Guys, this is _Nationals_. These are going to the hardest matches of our careers so far." Mai Nakamura told them.

"Look, we're playing Rikkai Dai. They're good, really good. But I honestly believe that we're better than they are. We have exactly one week until the match. Let's get to practice." Keiko said.

The whole team practiced more than any of them had in their lives for that whole week. She only saw Eiji and Syusuke during class and on their weekly trip to visit her father, who was getting steadily worse. But even then, Rei was completely preoccupied with tennis.

Finally the day came. The girls met up at the tennis court. There were already hundreds of people there, waiting to watch. Rei's hands began to shake. She played singles three, but as she looked up at the random order that had just been posted, she bit her lip. She would play last. Either way it was bad. She either wouldn't play at all, or the entire championship would be left up to her.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder.

"I think you'll play. And I think you'll win." Yuudai told her. He winked mysteriously and pointed to the seats. In the front rows stood both Seigaku's middle and High school tennis teams, and right in the front stood Eiji and Syusuke.

Yuudai jogged back up to his seat as the matches began. First up was Keiko for Singles one. She won six-four. But doubles two was a blowout. Rikkai Dai smashed Kiku and Mai six-one. Singles two wasn't much better. Hikari lost six-three. Luckily, Akiko and Makato pulled it out at the last minute, winning their doubles one match seven-six.

Everyone was on edge. Everything came down to this one match. Girls on both teams wanted to prove themselves. Seniors wanting to end their last year with a bang, first years wanting to prove they were worthy to be high school regulars, and second years, wanting to prove they could fill the shoes of the seniors.

"Rei!" someone called. She looked up. It was like seeing a ghost. Rin Muranaka stood, leaning over the bar separating the bleachers from the team bench.

"Rei! It's dad! Hurry!" Rin yelled. Rei jumped up and raced toward her sister.

"Rin, I'm about to play in the deciding match of Nationals. I'm a little busy." Rei hissed at her.

"But Rei, it's dad. He's dying" Rin held out her opened cell phone. Rei took it.

Rei looked around. Everyone was waiting for her decision. Her teammates and friends looked worried. Whether that was because they thought she was going to throw the match or they were worried for her dad, Rei couldn't tell.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Rei said quietly. Walking past the bench, she grabbed her green racket. Eiji jumped down from the bleachers and grabbed her arm.

"Rei, are you sure about this? Maybe we can get the match postponed." He said, but Rei shook her head.

"People are counting on me. Dad understands how important this is. I'm going to play." And she did.

Stepping on the court, every service game she threw out a Kick serve even Ryoma Echizen would be proud of. Syusuke applauded every time she took a point with one of his triple counters. With as much as Rei had to fight for, it was amazing that anyone could keep up, much less the Rikkai Dai girl. But she did. For nearly every point Rei received, the other girl got one too. Half an hour later, the score was five-four with Rei leading. One more game, it was her service.

She used a kick serve, but the Rikkai Dai girl had learned how to return that by now. Rei continually sent the ball to opposite corners, making the girl run. Then the girl finally hit a ball with enough topspin. She used the Swallow's Return. 15-Love.

Another kick serve, another rally. The girl was tired. Rei hit a drop shot that she wasn't expecting and the girl hurriedly hit a lob. Rei leaped up and smashed it. 30-Love.

Kick serve again, then a shorter rally. Rei was in a hurry. She lobbed the ball. The girl tried to smash it. But Rei used Syusuke's Bear Drop. 40-Love. It was Rei's match point.

Rei smiled as a breeze came through the courts.

"I'm going to end this quickly." She called to the other girl, serving the ball. The girl returned it, and Rei immediately used the third of Syusuke's triple counters. White Whale. As the ball bounced, it came directly back to Rei. She didn't bother catching it.

"Game, Set and Match to Seigaku!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as Rei shook the girl's hand. Then she ran off the court, throwing her racket to Eiji.

The boys all raced after her, Eiji tossing the green racket to Keiko.

Finally they reached the Eiji and Syusuke reached the hospital, just behind Rei. She ran in and headed straight to her father's room. Her mother was sitting in a chair next to his bed. Rei walked slowly into the room, looking at him from over her others shoulder.

"Dad?" She whispered. He looked up at her. There was no recognition in his eyes.

"His brain isn't functioning. It-it isn't making his body do what it's supposed to." Her mother whispered.

"I won dad. You should have seen it. I won us the whole thing. We're national champions now." Rei said, sitting down on the bed. But he just stared at her. He was a vegetable.

"Mom, we have to let him move on. It's hurting him." Rin had finally caught up. Rei spun around to face her sister.

"You don't know anything! You haven't even seen him since you ditched us for Europe." She hissed at her. Eiji and Syusuke walked over and pulled her to the side.

"No, Rei, you're sister's right. It's time. We need to say goodbye." Her mom said, standing up and wiping her eyes.

Rei and Rin sat on either side of their father's bed. Rin held his hand and whispered to him, crying. Rei bit her lip and watched before simply kissing him on the cheek.

"Goodbye daddy." She said.

The nurse ran in and ushered everyone out of the room except the girls' mother.

Rei sat on a bench between Syusuke and Eiji. The other boys who had followed the trio and waited in the hall sat around her, almost as if protecting her from some hidden evil.

The Nurse walked out and handed Rei a letter. Rei's mom ran over to Rin and hugged her as the two began sobbing hysterically.

Rei opened the letter as Eiji and Syusuke put their arms around her.

_Rei_

_I must tell you, you've grown up to be quite a girl. I saw your moping when Rin left and I was worried, I'll admit. I thought maybe you'd never be able to do anything on your own. I worried your mother and I hadn't taught you that, while Rin understood it well. So tell those boys thank you from me. They pulled you out of quite a slump. I'm proud of you for being as independent as you've become. I know you'll win Nationals. Your sister has other things going for her, so cut her a little slack. I have a feeling this singles thing will go well for you, so go have some fun with it._

_ Love, Always,_

_ Dad_

Rei smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"He was a pretty great guy, wasn't he?" Yuudai commented quietly.

"He sure was." Rei replied. Eiji ruffled her hair.

"We should celebrate." He said, grinning.

"Celebrate what?" Syusuke asked

"Celebrate Rei being a National Champion and how awesome her dad was of course." Eiji explained.

"You know what? I think that's a great idea, Eiji. How about Kawamura Sushi?" Rei asked. The boys all agreed and began filing out of the hospital, but Syusuke held her back.

"Are you and your sister going to talk?" He asked her, looking pointedly with his bright blue eyes at Rin and her mother consoling each other.

"I love her, but she's going to need time before we can talk about what happened. Plus, mom missed her. I can wait until tomorrow." She told him, smiling.

Syusuke smiled too, "Alright, let's catch up to the guys then, shall we?" he said.

With that, he lead her out of the hospital and they raced each other to Kawamura Sushi


End file.
